Chevalier’s 2001 novel introduces the work of the suffragettes as part of a wider exploration of the changing role of women at the turn of the 20th century. As the Victorian era segues into the Edwardian, isolated and unhappy Kitty Coleman, mother of Maude, is introduced to the WSPU [Women’s Social and Political Union, the suffragettes]. There is no romanticising of suffragette activities here. The book deals head-on with the the choice then facing women between dedicating their time to a noble cause and their conventional role as mothers. The result is heartbreaking.